Dodge leads nine Raiders on all-conference list

Thursday

Nov 28, 2013 at 2:00 AM

ASHLAND — Junior quarterback Austin Dodge repeated as the offensive player of the year to head nine Southern Oregon University football players on the Frontier's all-conference list, which was released Wednesday by the league office.

ASHLAND — Junior quarterback Austin Dodge repeated as the offensive player of the year to head nine Southern Oregon University football players on the Frontier's all-conference list, which was released Wednesday by the league office.

Dodge, a 6-foot-3 product of Vancouver, Wash., completed 66 percent of 520 pass attempts to lead the nation with 397.5 yards per game and 47 touchdown passes. He broke SOU's single-season record for TD passes for the second straight year, bringing his career total to 102, and set the single-game record with eight on Oct. 5 against Rocky Mountain.

The Frontier Conference also announced that Dodge is its nominee for NAIA Player of the Year.

The Raiders, who finished 7-4 overall and second in the Frontier Conference at 7-3, had three other first-team selections: junior receiver Ryan Retzlaff, junior offensive lineman Drew Gibson and senior defensive back Josh Leff.

Redshirt freshmen Melvin Mason, a running back, and Matt Retzlaff, a receiver, were second-team all-stars on offense with sophomore lineman Max Proudfit; junior lineman Daniel Breaux made the second team for defense; and junior defensive back Randy Tyler landed on the second team as a kick returner.

Ryan Retzlaff led the nation in receptions, totaling 85 with 12 touchdowns and 108.3 receiving yards per game. Matt Retzlaff amassed 856 reception yards with 15 touchdowns — tying a single-game school record with four TD grabs on Sept. 14 at Eastern Oregon — and added four scores on the ground to lead the conference in TDs.

Mason earned NAIA offensive player of the week recognition for gaining for 236 yards on 20 carries and scoring five times on Sept. 14 at Sacramento State. After an injury-plagued couple of weeks, he finished strong and averaged 85 rushing yards per game and 6.6 per carry.

On the defensive side, Leff capped his career with four interceptions, ranking third in the conference, and 38 total tackles to go with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Breaux had 33 solo tackles and assisted 27, compiling three sacks and 11 tackles for losses.

Tyler returned 12 kicks for an average of 17.3 yards with a long of 74.

As a team, the Raiders led the Frontier in points per game (47.2) and the nation in yardage (589.8) for the second straight season.

Carroll College linebacker Sean Blomquist was named the defensive player. He amassed a conference-best 79 solo tackles and had a hand in 30 more.

Brian Armstrong was the coach of the year after leading Rocky Mountain to a 7-3 conference record which included a win against SOU that later turned into a forfeit.

Third-ranked Carroll (11-0 overall) is the only Frontier team still alive and will host Missouri Valley on Saturday in a national quarterfinal.